The Curious Case of Frederic March, the Legendary Actor who Joined the Non-Racist Ku Klux Klan But got Posthumously Cancelled Anyway
A few days back I was perambulating about the internet when I spotted Frederic March’s name. I’ve always been a fan so I figured I would head over to Wikipedia to how many films he’d made that I could write about for The Fractured Mirror, my upcoming book on movies about movies.
March starred in the 1937 version of A Star is Born, one of the all-time great movies about the film industry, and is the only actor in history to win two Academy Awards and two Tonys.
THAT is impressive. That’s actually more impressive and rarer than EGOT because only one man and one woman has achieved it. Helen Hayes is the only other member of the two Oscars two Tonys club.
But learning of March’s incredible achievements did not affect me anywhere near as strongly as a section on “Misunderstandings” did.
The section begins innocently enough, with, “March was briefly a member of an inter-fraternity society composed of leading students formed at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1919 and 1920”
So far so good, eh? As a graduate of The University of Wisconsin-Madison I was proud to call a distinguished legend of the silver screen like March a fellow alumnus.
Then, alas, I read the rest of the sentence: “named the Ku Klux Klan which is not believed to have been affiliated with the notorious organization of that name.”
Wait, what? How is a smart actor at a top-tier progressive college in the Midwest going to join an organization called the KU KLUX KLAN unless he wants to be associated with the white supremacists with the robes and torches and lynchings?
The “Misunderstandings” segment goes on to assert, “In actuality, March was an outspoken proponent of the civil rights movement for five decades, and worked closely with the NAACP.[23][24] When the collegiate organization was named, the (later national) KKK was a small regional organization. As the national KKK became better known, the collegiate organization changed its name in 1922.”
While I just learned about the fact that the star of The Best Years of Our Lives somehow joined a NON-racist group regrettably named the Ku Klux Klan, the multiple Oscars and multiple Tony Awards winner’s unfortunate collegiate association has affected his legacy.
Up until 2017, theaters at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh were named after March. Then came the revelation that he belonged to the Ku Klux Klan and even though it was not THE Ku Klux Klan, it was enough to get March’s name removed from both theaters.
March was a passionate lifelong supporter of Civil Rights and a proud Liberal so it must be maddening for his family and fans to see him get posthumously cancelled for belonging briefly to a college group with a seriously unfortunate name.
At the same time, I am deep into the process of writing a book about movies about the film industry and two pre-1930s movies pop up far more often than any other: 1927’s The Jazz Singer, which is widely considered the first talkie despite being largely silent and 1915’s Birth of a Nation.
Birth of a Nation is considered a great leap forward for cinema as a whole, the masterpiece that proved conclusively that movies could be important art as well as entertainment.
The top grossing film of 1915 was a loving tribute to the heroism of the Ku Klux Klan from D.W. Griffith, the top filmmaker of his time. Though articles about the controversy depict the Ku Klux Klan as a small regional organization when March confusingly joined a group with its name that most assuredly was NOT the same organization, it’s hard to imagine a smart, cultured man like March not being familiar with the hate group through Birth of a Nation at the very least.
It’s possible that March was unfamiliar with Birth of a Nation but considering that he began appearing in films as an extra just six years after its release I doubt that’s true.
That’d be like me joining a group called the Nazis and having to explain that they have nothing to do with the other Nazis, or that, yes, I voted for a man named Donald Trump for President but it was a whole different guy with much more progressive policies.
We can all learn for this kerfuffle, however. I, for one, will NEVER join a group called the Ku Klux Klan regardless of their politics or the perks involved. I don’t care if they have REALLY nice luncheons or they’re super-connected: as Frederic March’s ghost would undoubtedly tell you, it’s just not worth it.
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